Growth Pains
by Strigidae87
Summary: Isn't it absurd how Mizuki survived the thousand-clone beatdown with only a black eye and some missing teeth?


AN: Uses Japanese naming order. Also, the first two thirds of this story is almost verbatim what happened in the manga.

An excited twelve year-old boy sat in the forest, unrolling a scroll half as large as himself. "Let's see... The first jutsu is... Kage Bunshin? What the hell!? Why does it start with the one I'm bad at?" the boy

incredulously shouted. 'Well, I'll get it this time. I'll show them all!' Naruto determinedly thought. Mizuki, the schoolteacher who had tricked him into stealing the scroll, smirked in satisfaction as he slunk away after

watching Naruto open the scroll. 'Now I just have to put the heat on him before I sneak the scroll out of here.'

After several hours of most of the village's shinobi running around like ants looking for Naruto, another of his schoolteachers, Umino Iruka, finally found an exhausted Naruto. "I've finally found you." he ground out. "Hey!

Look at me when I'm talking to you!" His head snapping up in surprise Naruto realized that he had been caught. "Oh! I found the nose-bleeder!" he blithely responded. "Idiot! I found you!" Iruka shouted in irritation.

Sighing, he noticed that the boy in front of him had burns on his exposed skin. Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto continued: "He-he-he. You found me. I've only learned one jutsu, though." Still thinking about the

burns on Naruto's body, Iruka asks: "Hey, you're all beaten up. What were you doing?" His eyes shining with hope, the boy ignored him, saying "Never mind that. Ne, ne! I'm going to try an incredible jutsu! If I do it...

Let me graduate!" Iruka realized then that the burns on Naruto's skin were chakra burns. 'You were practicing here, enough to damage your body...'

"Naruto..." he tentatively started. "Huh?" "Where did you get that scroll on your back?" "Oh, this? Mizuki-sensei told me about it, and this place in the woods too. He said that if I showed you one of the jutsu in this

scroll, I'd definitely graduate!" Worried and confused, Iruka barely had time to react to the sensation of killing intent being directed at them from the right. He managed to shove Naruto aside but got hit by a hail of

kunai himself. On a branch nearby sat Mizuki.

"Nice job in finding him." "I see. So that's what's going on." Iruka replied, pulling bloodied kunai from himself. Looking in Naruto's direction, Mizuki continued: "Naruto, give me the scroll!" Naruto, understandably

surprised by what appeared to be one of his teachers trying to kill the other, merely sat on the ground yammering in confusion with his gaze rapidly flitting back and forth between the two men. "Ne, ne! What's

going on here?" "Naruto!" Iruka shouted. "That is a dangerous scroll full of forbidden jutsu. Mizuki used you in order to get his hands on it. Don't give it to him! Protect it with your life!" Naruto was immediately put on

guard when told that he had been used by Mizuki. Putting on a false smile, Mizuki told him: "Naruto... It would be a bad idea for you to hang onto it. I'll tell you why..." "N-no! Don't do it!" Iruka shouted in alarm. 'This

boy is not ready to hear it!'

Mizuki brazenly continued. "You know about the demon fox being sealed twelve years ago, right? After that incident a new rule regarding the demon was created for this village." "A rule?" Naruto asked. "But Naruto,

this rule was never meant to be told to you." "Not to me?" Naruto anxiously replied. "Why? What is this rule?" Mizuki chuckled in cruel amusement. "What kind of rule is it?" Naruto asked again. His eyes boring

maliciously into Naruto's, Mizuki continued: "The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the demon fox." "Huh? What do you mean!?" the boy demanded, now starting to hyperventilate. "Stop

it!" Iruka imploringly shouted. Heedlessly, Mizuki went on: "It means that you... are the nine-tails demon... that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village!" Still being a rather naïve boy, Naruto didn't question his

teacher's words. To him it felt as if the world had suddenly dropped out from under his feet. "You were sealed up by the hokage that you admire so much and you have been lied to by everyone all this time!" Mizuki

jeered. "Didn't you find it odd how everyone hated you?" Mizuki asked Naruto, and the boy involuntarily remembered several painful memories of emotional abuse. "Iruka is the same! He actually hates you!"

By now Naruto was in such turmoil that small amounts of the Kyuubi's chakra started leaking into his system, mixing with his own and pouring out of him in an almost visible vortex. "Nobody will ever accept you!"

Mizuki kept on hammering at him as he prepared to throw one of his fuma shuriken at him. "That scroll was used to imprison you!" Naruto was brought back to the present by a grunt of pain. Looking up, he saw Iruka

leaning over him, a giant shuriken imbedded in his back. Realizing that Iruka had just shielded him with his own body, he asked "Why?" "I was always alone too, so I understand some of your pain. I'm sorry,

Naruto. If I had done a better job as your teacher, you wouldn't have had to feel like this." Iruka answered him, while Mizuki sat sneering in disgust at the scene. Deciding that he could trust Iruka, Naruto got up and

ran.

"Naruto!" Iruka shouted after him in worry. "He-he-he. Sorry, but he isn't the type to have a change of heart. He plans to use the scroll to get revenge on the village." Mizuki said. "You saw those eyes earlier... Those

were the eyes of a demon. Pulling the fuma shuriken out of his back, Iruka gaspingly replied: "Naruto isn't like that!" "Well, that doesn't really matter. I'm going to kill him anyway and get the scroll. I'll take care of you later." Mizuki said as he shot off after Naruto.

In the village panic was starting to spread among the shinobi and lynch mobs were starting to form. People were shouting things such as: "We should have killed him!", "We have to get him before he releases the

demon's power!" and "He's dangerous! Kill him if you find him!" The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was sitting in his study, frustratedly staring into his scrying orb. 'I finally find him and I see this. Mizuki went

and told him... Now Naruto is afraid like never before. The power that is sealed may be released... Worse, he has that scroll with him. The odds of him being able to break the seal and releasing the nine-tails are one

in a million, but if that happens...' he worriedly mused.

In the forest, who appears to be Iruka catches up to who appears to be Naruto. "Naruto!" 'Iruka' shouts. "Hurry! Pass me the scroll! Mizuki is catching up!" However, 'Naruto' suddenly changes direction and knocks

'Iruka' flying with a lariat. "What?" the confused 'Iruka' asks. "Why, Naruto?" he continues as he releases his transformation jutsu. "How did you know that I wasn't Iruka?" he continues with a venomous glare.

'Naruto' chuckles and releases a transformation of his own. "_I'm_ Iruka." "I see." Mizuki mutters, annoyed at having beed fooled.

They had coincidentally stopped near where Naruto himself had stopped to catch his breath. He hid behind a nearby tree and listened in on the two men's conversation. "Heh. You'd even transform into what killed your

parents to protect him?" Mizuki asked. "I won't hand over the scroll to an idiot like you." was all the response he got. "_You're_ the idiot. Naruto and I are the same." "The same?" Iruka curiously asked. Naruto, hearing

all this, feels resentment start to build up in him again. "If you use the kinjutsu in that scroll, you can do whatever you want." Mizuki continues. "There's no way that demon fox wouldn't try to use its power, unlike

what you're assuming." "Yeah..." Iruka answered thoughtfully. Hearing this Naruto feels a stab of betrayal. 'Damn... I knew it. See... Even Iruka-sensei, deep down... doesn't acknowledge me.' Naruto despairingly

thinks to himself. "True, the demon _would_ do something like that, but Naruto is different. He is... one of my excellent students." As Naruto hears this he feels a surge of hope flow through him. "He may not be the

smartest, and he's clumsy... But like anyone else, he knows what it is to feel pain. He isn't the demon fox to me any more. He's Uzumaki Naruto, a member of the Hidden Leaf village." By now Naruto is silently crying

with relief and joy.

Thoroughly disgusted by the melodrama by this point, Mizuki decides to finish Iruka off first. "Ok, whatever." he says, taking one of his giant shuriken in hand. "Iruka... I said I would take care of you later, but I've

changed my mind. Hurry up and die!" he shouts as he charges at the downed man. Just as Iruka accepts that he is about to die, an orange blur flies out of nowhere and sends Mizuki flying with a well-aimed punch.

'Naruto!?' Iruka thought, surprised that the boy had stuck around. "You should not have done that." Mizuki grinds out as he glares viciously at Naruto. Standing a couple metres in front of him is a very angry Naruto.

"Don't touch Iruka-sensei, or I'll kill you!" "You idiot!" Iruka shouts. "Why did you come out!? Run away!" Mizuki shouts back at Naruto: "Shut up! I'll kill a little punk like you in one shot!" "Try it, trash! I'll return the pain a thousand times over!" Naruto says, preparing to use his new jutsu. "Then try it, demon fox!" Mizuki shouts. Iruka suddenly feels a huge builup of chakra. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." A dull boom is heard from all around them, accompanied by a sudden fog. When the mist is blown away, they are surrounded by a veritable sea of orange. "Wha- what's going on!?" Mizuki shouts in consternation. Iruka was shocked into silence.

Taunts like "What's wrong?", "Come at me!" and "Weren't you going to kill me with one shot?" were heard from all sides. "Well, then. I'll start things off!" the orange sea shouted, and descended on Mizuki.

'Heh. He might actually have created a thousand of them. They're not just illusionary clones either, but solid ones.' Iruka thought in wonder as he watched the maelstrom in front of him. Very soon, though, one of the

Narutos started acting oddly. He became anxious enough to pull at his hair, shouting: "No, stop! Stop it! You're killing him!" and Iruka suddenly thought of the effect of dozens of enraged solid clones beating on a

human body at once. The panicking Naruto dived into the mass of clones in the middle of the forest clearing, quickly becoming obscured by orange bodies and the vapour of rapidly dispelling clones. After a couple of

minutes the clone horde's racket died down. The only thing Iruka could hear at this point was sniffling. Making his way to the center of the remaining clones, he was met with a painful sight: Presumably the real

Naruto was on his knees at what vaguely looked like Mizuki's body.

"Naruto?" No response. Walking closer and putting a hand on the boy's shoulder, he tried again. "Naruto?" The boy flinched as if stung. "Iruka-sensei!" he cried and flung himself into his teacher's arms. "I'm sorry! I

didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" Naruto suddenly pulled away. "Naruto?" Iruka worriedly asked. Leaning to the side, the boy vomited on the ground. After a few minutes of being comforted by Iruka, the Hokage arrived. He

hurriedly strode to Naruto and took him from Iruka's arms into his own. "Jiji... I killed him... I'm sorry." Carefully considering his words, the hokage sighed and gently held Naruto by his shoulders. "Naruto. Look at me."

Naruto hesitantly looked into Hiruzen's eyes, and finding no condemnation there, held his gaze. "Killing someone is always a tragedy, no matter the reason." Naruto flinched and averted his eyes. "However, there are

times when it is worse to _not_ kill a person than it is to kill them. This was one such a time." Looking into the face of the old man again, Naruto asked: "What do you mean? Was killing Mizuki the right thing to do?" "In

a manner of speaking. It was the _least wrong_ thing to do. Mizuki was a traitor. He stole an extremely valuable village artifact that would have hurt the village greatly if it fell into enemy hands. This is treason, punishable

by death. He then tried to kill you and Iruka, his fellow shinobi. You responded by protecting Iruka's life and your own."

"Jiji... Was what he said about me being the Kyuubi true?" the boy asked, shivering with anxiety. "No!" Hiruzen sharply responded. Softening his gaze at Naruto's flinch, he continued: "You are _not_ the fox. It is merely

sealed into you, with an extremely powerful seal, I might add. My boy, does a storage scroll become a kunai just by having a kunai sealed into it?" "No." Naruto answered, relieved. "Ne, Jiji. Why did the Yondaime

Hokage seal it into me?" Naruto asked morosely. Frowning minutely, Hiruzen continued: "So that you could one day learn to harness its power to protect Konoha. He believed that you could one day do this." Eyes

wide, Naruto said: "He... believed in me?" "Yes." Hiruzen said with a smile. When the Hokage and the boy had gone, one of the men responsible for disposing of Mizuki's corpse remarked: "Now, _that's_ what I call

getting the shit kicked out of you." "Yes," answered the other, "I would be surprised if there were a hundred unbroken bones in this guy's body."

About an hour later, when the Hokage and Naruto were in his home, he spoke up again. "Naruto." "Yes, Jiji?" "Do you remember the time when I told you than one must be the strongest shinobi in the village to

become Hokage?" His eyes narrowing in thought, Naruto answered. "Yes. That's when I decided to become Hokage." "Being Hokage is not about being respected by everyone. It is about leading and protecting the

people in one's village." With Naruto paying rapt attention, he continued: "The Hokage protects his people by commanding the shinobi under his authority. Often to lie, to steal, to kill. It is indeed a heavy burden, one

that requires a strong heart to carry. _That_ is what I meant when I said that one needs to be the strongest in the village to be the Hokage." Giving the boy sitting next to him a while to digest this, he thought to himself:

'Show me if your father's faith in you was well placed, Naruto.'

When he had Naruto's attention again, he asked: "So, my boy. What will you do? Will you continue along the path of being a shinobi? Will you still become Hokage?" "To protect the people precious to me..." Naruto

mumbled after thinking for another minute or so. His eyes shining with determination, he met the Hokage's gaze. "I will become Hokage and protect everyone, no matter what, dattebayo!" "That is good to hear." the

Hokage answered, his voice filled with pride. "Now." Naruto squinted with curiosity at the Hokage's sudden change in demeanour. "Let me be the first to congratulate you, Naruto: Welcome to manhood." Hiruzen said

as he clapped Naruto on the back. "As soon as Iruka gets patched up, we should celebrate. This... and your promotion to Genin." "Really!? Yes!" Naruto jumped up and whooped with joy. Sighing quietly, Hiruzen

muttered under his breath: "That all went much better than I could have expected."

An hour or so later Naruto, Iruka and the Hokage were sitting at a bar. While Naruto was talking Iruka's ear off, Hiruzen quietly told the bartender: "Naruto here got his first kill earlier tonight. Bring us two bottles of

something strong, would you?" Nodding, the man turned to retrieve the requested drink. When it arrived, Iruka poured them each a saucer of the strong rice wine. "Now, Naruto. Since this is a celebration, you should

drink it in one shot, like this. See?" he said after downing his saucer. Naruto missed the Hokage and the bartender's smirks as he carefully picked up his saucer. Sniffing at it made his eyes water. "Come on, then!"

the bartender cheered. "Drink it like a man!" Naruto gave the suspicious liquid one more glance and tossed it down. After swallowing it, he stared into space for a moment before wheezing and going into a coughing fit.

Interrupting his laughter, Hiruzen said: "Don't worry, you'll get used to it, and even learn to enjoy it. Now, drink up, there's still a bottle and a half to go!"


End file.
